let the stream flow

Menu

Crime Story 4

I would never have expected my trusting nature to cost me a fortune. However, that day, it did. I was at home, a posh condominium unit along Bukit Timah Road, when a man turned up at my doorstep. He claimed that he was considering purchasing a luxurious apartment from amongst where I lived.

“I wonder if I could check with you the price you had paid for your apartment,” the bespectacled and well-dressed young man asked. “Would you mind if I come in and take a look at the interior of your unit?” He explained that he had found my neighbour’s asking price too steep, and would like to find out more from the other owners living in the condominium.

I observed the good-looking man for a while and believed that there was nothing sinister about this lad. I opened the grille gate and welcomed the stranger into my home. How little I knew.

As soon as the young man entered the house, he pushed, kicked and punched me. He also brandished a knife promptly. Two middle-aged men appeared from nowhere and rushed in too. I was startled and fell backwards onto the floor. They looked menacingly fierce.

“What’s the matter?” Rose, my wife, asked as she walked out from the kitchen. When she saw the three men, she was frightened out of her wits. Before she could scream, one of the men subdued her, tied her up and blindfolded her with her mouth gagged. The young man was still pointing the knife at me while the third man started ransacking my home.

Rose was so distressed that she passed out on the chair. I was panic-stricken. All I wanted was the safety of both of us. It was a good thing the kids were in school. I watched haplessly as the robbers turned my home upside down. Then one of them found the safe in the master bedroom. The young man ordered me to unlock it, which I would not dare to reject.

Much to the pleasant surprise of the robbers, they had unearthed gems and stacks of cash. What they did not know then was that the treasure was worth almost half a million dollars. They stuffed everything into the rugsacks. The young man looked at me and sneered, “Thanks, and sorry!” He tied me up, gagged and blindfolded me. Very soon I could hear them making off with their loot. Then, there was silence in the house. I could only hear my rapid heartbeat. I was worried that a heart attack would strike.

Of course, we were rescued later, by the security guards. While lamenting our losses, I was thankful that we survived the robbery. Rose sobbed uncontrollably when she saw the kids returning home in the evening. After a police report was made, I lodged an official complaint against the property management company and questioned how those three robbers managed to get into the condominium under a supposedly tight security.